Bye Bye Blackbird


"Bye Bye Blackbird" is a song published in 1926 by Jerome H. Remick written by the American composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Mort Dixon. It is considered a popular standard and was first recorded by Sam Lanin's Dance Orchestra in March 1926.

Song information

Popular recordings in 1926 were by Nick Lucas, Gene Austin, Benny Krueger and by Leo Reisman. It was the number 16 song of 1926 according to Pop Culture Madness.

In popular culture

In "Goodbye Nkrumah" Beat poet Diane Di Prima asks:
And yet, where would we be without the American culture
Bye bye blackbird, as Miles plays it, in the ’50s

In the 1968 film Isadora, the song plays in the background as Isadora Duncan and a young man leave a party on the French Riviera. The scene and the song reappear throughout the movie until the end, when Duncan’s scarf snags in the wheel of the car and breaks her neck.
In 1982, the Recording Industry Association of America posthumously awarded John Coltrane a "Best Jazz Solo Performance" Grammy for the work on his album Bye Bye Blackbird.
Recordings of the song often include only the chorus; the verses are far less known.
Segregationists opposed to the American Civil Rights Movement, notably at the Selma to Montgomery marches, played the song over loudspeakers as a taunt.
Two former Beatles have each recorded the song: Ringo Starr for his 1970 album Sentimental Journey, and Paul McCartney for his 2012 album Kisses on the Bottom. Both men have commented that the song was one of many "standards" that they grew up singing with their families. McCartney also noted in the CD booklet for Kisses On The Bottom that he and John Lennon had liked the song so much that they had intended to record a Beatles version of it.
It is used in the musicals Liza with a Z and Fosse, and also the 2006 film adaptation of The History Boys.
It is sung by multiple characters in Season 1 episode 4 of the 2019 Series World on Fire